Representatives from environmental groups and local residents yesterday gathered in front of Taipei City Hall to present a petition saying that all the buildings on a plot of land purchased by the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation within an environmental conservation area in the city’s Neihu District (內湖) are illegal, a view that the city government said had some validity.
The Tzu Chi Foundation purchased a plot of land on the district’s Chengkong Road Sec 5, across from Dahu Park (大湖公園), and applied to the city government in 1997 to change the land’s status from a environmental conservation area to one that could be used for the construction of a 4.6 hectare “social welfare park.”
The foundation’s plans led to opposition from environmentalists and local residents over concerns that the fragile geological features of the site may not be appropriate for a large-scale development, possible water drainage problems and over fears that the case would become a bad example of giving over environmental conservation areas to development.
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
Shouting: “The city government should stop covering up for Tzu Chi, and Tzu Chi should stop its illegal practices,” the protesters urged the city government to admit that the buildings on the land are illegal constructions, and to put a stop to the foundation’s efforts to legalize them or to expand the development.
Neihu Environmental Conservation Area Protection Association chairperson Lee Jih-Ching (李日進) said that according to the city government’s land use regulations for environmental conservation areas, developments larger than 5,000m2 need to go through urban planning and renewal procedures, and construction of buildings more than 200m2 require approval from the city’s urban planning committee, but the foundation did not fulfill either of these requirements.
Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) of Green Party Taiwan, said the city government should not neglect the fact that the existing buildings in the area are illegal and should take action accordingly.
Receiving the petition from the groups’ representatives, Construction Management Office deputy director Chen Huang-cheng (陳煌城) said: “According to our records, there are indeed illegal constructions in the area, but operations to tear them down are on hold.”
The city government passed an administrative order some years ago that allowed illegal constructions built before 1994 to be exempted from being torn down, Chen said, adding that the office would check whether there are new illegal constructions in the area within the next two weeks.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS